Electricity Prices

kevthegaff

Just wondering what are ye doing to combat rising prices, seeing its already started to hit manufacturing and small businesses

cjpm

Planning on putting in a concrete tank at the highest part of the farm. Putting a timed valve on the supply to it and use it for drinking water then during the day. Refill each night.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579550#Comment_119579550

Sound like a recipe for contamination of your drinking water to save peanuts.

cjpm

Do you think the electricity used to pump 100 litres plus per cow per day from 200ft underground is peanuts.

The majority of which they drink during day rate electricity hours.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119603358#Comment_119603358

In a bit of a brain fart I somehow thought it was for your house.

Assuming just for the cattle it’s not a bad plan but not sure how long the payback would be to put in a 10k litre concrete tank (assuming 100 cows).

kevthegaff

A bigger air tank will reduce the pump kicking in. We added another one in the parlour also

cjpm

After reading this thread I decided to calculate how much electricity I am using at the moment per cow, per day. Averaged over a week

It worked out at 0.46 units per cow per day.

0.26 on Day Rate and 0.20 on Night Rate.

Obviously this is Sept so the water bill and milk cooling bill would be a lot lower than peak summer months.

Just the farm on this meter and no other livestock.

cjpm

Just wondering if anyone has advice on farm generators? PTO type. Price etc?

I’ve been advised to go for 33kVa

kevthegaff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119616072#Comment_119616072

Ya I bought a 33 kva one few years back , runs 20 unit parlour, bulk tank and all scrapers at same time

Bleating Lamb

Just wondering if many people have looked at changing their electricity supplier given all increases in prices lately?

Jim_11

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119776599#Comment_119776599

theres very little difference between them, a cent here or there

whelan2

I think alot of the offers aren't there anymore. I'm with electric Ireland 26% discount, new contract started in August. Submit monthly readings

emaherx

Very little in them if you stay with them, but usually discounts for new customers so worth shopping around yearly. Got a 32% discount with Bordgais and free use on Saturdays.

I now try to save the welding/ 3D printing for Saturdays. Use automation and timers to control heavy appliances and pumps for times with cheapest rates.

Use an automation with weather forecast to predict if solar hot water needs to be supplemented with immersion on night rate based on cloud cover forecast.

Going to get a new vacuum Kettle that doesn't need to be reboiled for hours.

Monitoring usage, is useful for finding appliances that are using power but providing very little service. There are energy kits available to borrow free from all county Libraries. https://www.meath.ie/council/council-services/libraries/home-energy-saving-kits

whelan2

Most important thing is to submit regular meter readings. See a local business complaining of a massive airtricity bill of over 6k. They hadn't read the meter in over a year....

emaherx

Yes @whelan2 that is particularly good advice in the days before a price increase. Of course it's automatic now for anyone with a smart meter.

kevthegaff

Hoe many times do lads run the scrapers

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119780806#Comment_119780806

As often as needed I'd guess, but that will vary depending on width/length of passage and number of cows. Cutting out scrapping too much will increase the power used by the scraper if it has to push too large a volume of slurry in front of it and increase wear/tear. You could use a clamp meter to see how much power it consumes with different timings, while checking how clean the passages are being kept if you wanted to experiment with lower frequency.

Jim Simmental

So is the ‘meter reader’ being made redundant? No need for that anymore if you have a smart meter ?

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119782007#Comment_119782007

Yes

whelan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119780806#Comment_119780806

Every 4 hours, think it's a false economy skimping on the frequency tbh

kevthegaff

When their in at nite I was thinking of running em at 9pm and 6am or is it too little

emaherx

If you've a night rate meter would 23:00 and 07:00 make more sense? Or 00:00 08:00 if/when your rates change summer/winter time.

Bleating Lamb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119778232#Comment_119778232

Did you get the ‘free use on Saturdays’ with Bord Gais over the phone?

I went with their One Big Switch deal for the house the other day but didn’t bother switching Farm a/c as mainly sheep here so usage wouldn’t be serious.Have credit built up on farm a/c as well.

Was it the One Big Switch deal you availed of as it’s 33% off for first year with them?

emaherx

No I signed up online direct with them. Forgot about one big switch to be honest.

Did you get the free time Saturday or Sunday with that too?

whelan2

My mother texted yesterday evening that her electricity contract was going to be out of date soon, I was assuming in a few weeks, but she said tomorrow. I went onto bonkers.ie and luckily electric Ireland will keep them on the same plan they're on ,14% saving. There were 4 other offers on the screen, no savings on any of them. Prepay power and flogas the providers. I'd say they'll have to pay full whack for a couple of weeks until it comes into place

jaymla627

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786793#Comment_119786793

Did you try one big switch, they had good offers last week

whelan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119787021#Comment_119787021

No. The fact the contract was out of date so soon I was sort of panicking

Dinzee Conlee

End of contract here too - went onto bonkers and no savings.

Looked up ESB, no savings… Am with Airtricity and they still seem to be the best - which surprised me…

@emaherx - did you sign up with Bord gais lately? Was on their website today and I didn’t see any 32% discount offers?

Oh, for normal house use - what’s the opinion on smart meter rate? We don’t have geo thermal heating, no big energy use really, just standard household items…

Bleating Lamb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119782796#Comment_119782796

Don't think so tbh,I availed of One Big Switch deal on last day it was available.....last Friday....33% off, I also signed up online....where did you see that you have free electricity on a Saturday?.......got phone call from Energia today as Bord Gais had obviously contacted them to take over provider service.....best Energia Salesperson would do was 10% of this years contract so I said thanks but no thanks.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119789269#Comment_119789269

It was at the end of September, just looked at the website now and best discount I see is 15%, guess its luck of the draw

I think for a lot of households the old plans still makes more sense. The smart plan works for us but you need to watch how energy is consumed or you really could get stung worse, I added energy monitoring and some automation where possible with Home Assistant to help. The monitoring from the smart meter is not great as its always a day behind and you really need real time monitoring. And once you go on a smart plan you can't go back so you need to work it out.

No Heat pump here, but I use the Immersion to backup solar hot water which needs more backup as the days get shorter.

Washing machine, dishwasher, oven, immersion, vacuum, dishwasher, kettle, toaster all show big spikes when they are used, even the twins 2 gaming PC's can show a fair increase when they go on together of an evening. Using the night rate and free Saturday where possible helps, Saturday is great for bigger workshop / welding jobs now.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119789475#Comment_119789475

Got the same phone call from Energia, but they couldn't match

The plan I signed up for is called Saturday Free Time, between 9 and 5 it is free to use as much as I like.

kk.man

Stay a mile away from Energia..

Last year I was out of contract and they rode me.

whelan2

Don't energia have a quota of what you can use at the reduced rate?

Dinzee Conlee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792843#Comment_119792843

Thanks for that…

Why can’t you go back from a smart meter do you know?

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793327#Comment_119793327

Don't they all? Definitely no reward for loyalty with any of them?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793411#Comment_119793411

Reduced rate as in night rate? I don't think so, energy providers get ver low rates at night possibly free for them at times. Don't think they offer free time to customers though.

BordGais have a fair usage policy on free units of 100KWh per month which we are doing our best to get to but will probably fall a bit short.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793466#Comment_119793466

I imagine they want everyone on a smart plan eventually, but they can't currently force someone to take a smart plan. By signing up you agree to stay.

I'm sure overtime people will be priced out of the old plans anyway.

orm0nd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793327#Comment_119793327

was with Flogas and nearly got rode bare back and side saddle combined when the contract ended.

Luckily I wasn't on a smart meter at the time and avoided most of it.

dodo mommy

What would yere average daily unit usage be, I was looking at my own recently and it was around 15-20units per day would that be the norm with everyone else? That's home only farm is separate.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119798495#Comment_119798495

Possibly........... but do you live alone? or with family?

2 teenagers here can increase power consumption significantly when they are around.

Dinzee Conlee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119798495#Comment_119798495

We’d use less that that - well, the past few bills were less. Will creep up a bit now coming into winter

We used about 4500units in the past year. Down from about 5000 the year before - but we have been energy conscious lately whereas we weren’t really before…

K.G.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119782091#Comment_119782091

Used to do every 6 hours but now we do every 3 hours.it keeps the house zlot cleaner

dodo mommy

Smart meter installed 15/9/22, have 852units used since that works out at 20.78units/day no one in the house during the day until kids get home from school at 4. Very careful with lights and all that, dishwasher twice a week, washing machine is going ever evening no tumble dryer still feel it's a bit high🤷

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799201#Comment_119799201

Nobody can really answer this for you. Smart meter only tells you what comes in not where it goes. Book an energy testing kit from your county Library and monitor individual appliances you could be surprised. Even a multimeter with Clamp Meter if you have one / can use one will highlight what's really power hungry.

for example a basic PC may consume 50W but a Gaming PC playing a Graphics intensive game 500W, 2 Gaming PC's in this house but are banned during the peak hours. A TV could vary from 50 - 300W depending on age and size.

Electric oven could be3000W, Kettle 2000W toaster 1000 - 2500W

Water Pressure pump 600W, Modern Septic tank 100W for compressor and 800W when pump kicks in.

An Old chest freezer could be consuming much more than a new one.

Appliances on Standby, Chargers plugged in and nothing charging.

Smart meters also show half hourly usage which is not that useful.

I made a monitor that captures the flashing light on the meter on converts to real time usage which is useful for finding exactly what is being consumed right now.

Had online meetings this morning so Kettle went on a lot must get a vacuum flask type kettle to save re-boiling

Gooser14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799201#Comment_119799201

How does the daily consumption figures compare to your usage for the same period last year when you didn't have the smart meter?

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799777#Comment_119799777

Most likely will be very skewed by estimated billing and differences in power consumption between Sept/Oct.

dodo mommy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799746#Comment_119799746

Thanks for that, some serious issues to think about their.👍

satstheway

Just checking on bonkers.ie and I can save approx €120 by going from 5.5% discount night rate to 10% but this is only available through bonkers. It has a new contract term of 1 year. Its electric ireland. Is it safe enough to go through Bonkers.ie?

J.O. Farmer

Yeah, I've switched through them, the new company always get in touch directly to confirm everything within a couple of days.

whelan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119802626#Comment_119802626

I've used bonkers.ie for the last 5 or 6 years, no problem

Sami23

Anyone swith provider lately. My yearvis up with Energia shortly so need try get a new deal somewhere.

Also what happens if you have credit in your account when you switch provider - presume its lost ?

emaherx

I'd look for a cheque and not presume it's lost tbh. They'd chase you for payment if it were the other way.

Switched in September, but discounts for switching I hear have been cut in half since then.